Abigail Rose Beutler with her proud parents

A pro-life congresswoman who refused to abort her child after being told it was suffering from an incurable disease is now holding a “miracle” in her arms.

LifeSiteNews is reporting that Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-OR), 34, was told during her pregnancy that her unborn child had Potter’s Syndrome, an incurable disease caused by impaired kidney function that results in decreased amniotic fluid which prevents proper lung development. There is no cure for the condition.

Beutler and her husband were told to expect their baby, who they named Abigail, to be either stillborn or to die of suffocation shortly after birth. her condition was “incompatible with life”, they said, and urged her to abort.

She refused.

As Beutler explains on Facebook, a parent who faced a similar situation helped her to connect with a group of courageous doctors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital who were willing to try a simple – but unproven – treatment called amnio-infusion.

“Every week for five weeks, doctors injected saline into the womb to give Abigail’s lungs a chance to develop. With each infusion we watched via ultrasound as Abigail responded to the fluid by moving, swallowing and ‘practice breathing.’ The initial lack of fluid in the womb caused pressure on her head and chest, but over the course of the treatment we were able to watch them reform to their proper size and shape. Her feet, which were clubbed in early ultrasounds, straightened. There was no way to know if this treatment would be effective or to track lung development, but with hearts full of hope, we put our trust in the Lord and continued to pray for a miracle.”

Just after the fifth infusion, Jaime went into labor. She was just 28 weeks pregnant. Doctors did everything they could to delay the birth as long as possible, but to no avail. On July 15, Abigail Rose Beutler was born.

“The doctors and nurses were prepared for the worst – but immediately after she was born, she drew a breath and cried!” Beutler writes. “After a few minutes, it was clear that her lungs were very well developed for a baby born so early. The infusions had stopped the Potter’s Sequence.”

But Abigail still has challenges due to her lack of kidney function.

“The first doctors we encountered told us that dialysis or transplant were not possible. No local hospital was prepared to perform the procedure necessary – peritoneal dialysis – on a baby so small. Johns Hopkins was willing, but too far to transport.  After a day of searching, we found a team at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital who were ‘happy to have her.’  At sixteen hours old, she made her first trip to California, had surgery the next day and began dialysis immediately after. She is active, stable and breathing on her own.”

Abigail is now the first baby with this condition to breathe sustainably on her own.

“Although Abigail will need ongoing care after she comes home, we have every expectation that she will lead a full and healthy life,” her mother writes.

“We are grateful to the doctors and nurses who, like us, were not willing to accept the fatal diagnosis, but were willing to fight for the impossible. . . . We are grateful to the thousands who joined us in praying for a miracle. But most of all, we are grateful to God for answering those prayers.”

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